Stormwater Tax A Drop In The Bucket Compared To Potential Carbon Taxes

“This would be a regulatory maze far exceeding anything we’ve seen before,” said David Schoenbrod, a professor of environmental law at the New York Law School.

Sunnyside is struggling under the burden of trying to comply with stormwater runoff regulations under provisions of the Clean Water Act.  It has been a hot topic locally, with the City Council, under threat of litigation, temporarily rescinding the tax it had levied.

While City of Sunnyside staff try to come up with a way to comply with the complex regulations, the City has found itself incapable of properly assessing a tax on each individual parcel within the City limits.  Despite ongoing budget problems, which are blamed for the City’s failure to be able to properly tax landowners, the City Council approved additional pay raises for employees at its last meeting.

To be sure, the additional taxes will be a drag on the local economy, as they have been a drag on the American economy since they first started to be implemented years ago.

As if the problems created in D.C. are not enough, the EPA under Obama’s administration is now pursuing a new line of regulatory authority: regulating greenhouse gases.

Both Obama and McCain favored increasing taxes and regulations on greenhouse gases, they just differed on the details of how to do it.  Whether we have a carbon tax, or we try to implement a government run “cap and trade” program, the result will be more taxes, more regulation, and less money in the pockets of American citizens and businesspeople.

The ultimate insult regarding carbon taxes is that human beings are carbon based life forms.  Your very existence will be a taxable event under these proposed regulations.  It is not dependent on your behavior, or how green and environmentally conscious you may be.  If you breathe, you are generating carbon dioxide, which the government will tax.  And no, I am not joking.

Regulations have already been drafted to tax farmers on the number of cows they have.  The flatulence from cows is alleged to cause harm to the environment, and must be taxed.  The next step is to tax human existence as well.

Even supporters of cutting greenhouse gases, like the professor quoted at the top of this post, will admit that the complexity of trying to tax carbon is way beyond that of anything the government is currently regulating.

Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Manufacturers are warning that it could hobble an already weak economy.  Proponents of increasing taxes and regulations say they are doing it for our “health and welfare”.

People will prosper most when the government gets out of the way, and allows us to live our lives in a free society.  These proposed increases in taxes and regulations will make doing business in the USA even more difficult than it already is.  What we would benefit from most, is not just halting growth in government under regulatory burdens, but for the government to simply leave us alone.  Without such interference, farmers, business owners, and job seekers will benefit.  This in turn will help increase the tax base, which will provide for better schools, and make it easier to cover administrative expenses at City Hall.

Reference:

The Washington Post: EPA presses Obama To Regulate Warming Under Clean Air Act

WSJ: EPA Raises Heat on Emissions Debate

FreedomWorks: Top Ten Reasons To Oppose Cap and Trade